HONG KONG — After more than two months of harsh lockdown, China’s largest city, Shanghai, began to unlock at the stroke of midnight Wednesday.
As metal fencing came down around most communities and private vehicles returned to the roads, spontaneous gatherings popped up across the city, with selfies on the historic Bund promenade along the Huangpu riverfront and street-corner hangouts amongst reunited friends in the Former French Concession.
The Chinese authorities appeared to have tamed the omicron variant outbreak that stopped China’s financial and commercial capital in its tracks for more than 65 days. On Tuesday, the last day of full restrictions, Shanghai recorded 15 COVID-19 cases, down from some 25,000 daily cases in early April.